Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37019889›Full record

ArticleTranslational psychiatry2023

Fetal exposure to valproic acid dysregulates the expression of autism-linked genes in the developing cerebellum.

Marika Guerra, Vanessa Medici, Robert Weatheritt, Valentina Corvino, Daniela Palacios, Maria Concetta Geloso, Donatella Farini, Claudio Sette

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Translational psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. The meningeal-cerebellar axis: a new perspective on cerebellar development.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Pre- and Postnatal Valproate Exposure Affects Brain Development.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025
    Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Marika GuerraDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4531-3361
Vanessa MediciDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy.
Robert WeatherittGarvan Institute of Medical Research, EMBL Australia, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia.
Valentina CorvinoDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy.
Daniela PalaciosDepartment of Life Science and Public Health, Section of Biology, Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy.
Maria Concetta GelosoDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy.
Donatella FariniDepartment of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-1991-3956
Claudio SetteDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Human Anatomy, Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy. claudio.sette@unicat.it.ORCID 0000-0003-2864-8266
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore · ITGarvan Institute of Medical Research · AUUniversity of Rome Tor Vergata · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes a set of highly heritable neurodevelopmental syndromes characterized by social and communication impairment, repetitive behaviour, and intellectual disability. Although mutations in multiple genes have been associated to ASD, most patients lack detectable genetic alterations. For this reason, environmental factors are commonly thought to also contribute to ASD aetiology. Transcriptome analyses have revealed that autistic brains possess distinct gene expression signatures, whose elucidation can provide insights about the mechanisms underlying the effects of ASD-causing genetic and environmental factors. Herein, we have identified a coordinated and temporally regulated programme of gene expression in the post-natal development of cerebellum, a brain area whose defects are strongly associated with ASD. Notably, this cerebellar developmental programme is significantly enriched in ASD-linked genes. Clustering analyses highlighted six different patterns of gene expression modulated during cerebellar development, with most of them being enriched in functional processes that are frequently dysregulated in ASD. By using the valproic acid mouse model of ASD, we found that ASD-linked genes are dysregulated in the developing cerebellum of ASD-like mice, a defect that correlates with impaired social behaviour and altered cerebellar cortical morphology. Moreover, changes in transcript levels were reflected in aberrant protein expression, indicating the functional relevance of these alterations. Thus, our work uncovers a complex ASD-related transcriptional programme regulated during cerebellar development and highlight genes whose expression is dysregulated in this brain area of an ASD mouse model.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderAnimalsBrainCerebellumMiceValproic AcidValproic Acid

Identifiers

PMID37019889
PMCPMC10076313
OpenAlexW4362637778

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.